On Campus: Cornell's Daeja Quick off to a strong start for the District of Columbia

Thursday

Dec 7, 2017 at 7:00 PMDec 8, 2017 at 4:35 PM

Jeremy Tepper @BCT_JTepper

For Daeja Quick, there have been no nerves in the early parts of her first college basketball season.

There has been no worry, only eagerness. Eagerness to do what she often has done on a basketball court, to score, to lead, to be a difference-maker like she was in high school at Cornell.

Through her first eight games with the District of Columbia, Quick is producing in a way she is accustomed to. Playing a team-high 31.3 minutes per game, Quick is averaging 16.8 points while adding 2.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists. Her strong start has earned her the East Coast Conference rookie of the week honor three times. Quick attributes her easy acclimation to the college game to the countless time she’s spent in the gym to better prepare herself.

“It’s definitely work ethic, and coach pushes me in practice, so it’s a cumulative of work ethic, of just pushing on my own and having a coach who pushes you,” Quick said. “I worked so hard in preseason and practice, so I think coach realized that, and that’s why he keeps me in the game. It doesn’t matter how talented you are, just if you push yourself in practice, you’re going to play in the game.”

Regardless of what the strong numbers say, it’s taken some adjustments to get used to the college game, which Quick said is decidedly faster than high school basketball.

That speed, along with Quick’s heavy responsibility, has her turnover numbers higher than she’d like at 3.9 a game. No matter, she’s working on and getting better at that, she believes. Taking care of the ball, along with sharing it better, are points of emphasis for Quick.

“Earlier in the season I had a low number of assists, but now I’m starting to get more people involved and get the ball in more people’s hands on the team, so I think I improved on that,” Quick said.

“I’m still learning the personnel. I’m not going to say I’m an expert on everybody on the team, but it’s a learning experience. We’re a young team, and we’re improving. I’m just learning about them and they’re learning about me too.”

To say Quick and her teammates are young would be a bit of an understatement. There are no seniors on the District of Columbia roster, and just two juniors. Of the 11 players on the team, six are freshman and two are juniors. That inexperience, along with a 2-6 start, has Quick thinking modestly. The goal is to get better collectively, and not get too hung up on the results, which should get better as long as Quick and company continue to progress.

“I just want us to get better as a team together, play together, work as a team and not really worry about the record or score,” Quick said. “I just want us to get better as team, because that’s going to help us in the long run. It’s going to help us in the future.”

FOOTBALL

Toledo defeated Akron 45-28 in the MAC championship. Terry Swanson (Aliquippa) continued a strong season with 180 yards and two touchdowns. Swanson, a senior running back, has rushed for 1319 yards and 14 touchdowns.